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Ready to increase women in police to 50%: Gogoi

India on 03 March 2014Location : Assam | Source : Times of India

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday announced at the valedictory function of the 'Sixth National Conference of Women in Police' here that the state government was ready to increase the number of women officials in Assam police to at least 50 per cent. The three-day conference discussed several issues pertaining to women in the country's police force and recommended increasing their representation to 10 percent.

Currently, women account for only four per cent in the state police force. This is lower than the national average of five percent women officers. Of the 56,814 officials in Assam police, only 2,443 are women.

"The state government is working to recruit more women in its police force. We would like to increase their representation to 50 per cent. With crimes against women increasing every day, a rise in the number of women officers is necessary to protectwomen's rights and safety," Gogoi said in his speech.

The conference not only highlighted the basic problems faced by policewomen, it also urged the state government to address these issues immediately.

"Though there are several policies for women's empowerment in the country, they are yet to be implemented in the true sense. Many police stations in the country don't even have basic facilities like toilets and restrooms for women," additional solicitor general, Indira Jaising, said.

A survey report presented during the conference revealed that people from both urban and rural areas wanted more policewomen as they were perceived to be well-mannered. The survey report added that there were fewer complaints of rights violations from areas where women personnel were deployed. The survey was conducted in 322 locations, including spots in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Gogoi said the state was working to modernize the police force and its infrastructure.

"The state granted Rs 500 crore for police modernization recently," he said.